


Seoul 99: First Christmas

by LilacChocolate



Series: Seoul 99 [2]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kidnapping, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Smut, Police, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-22 19:09:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17065445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: Jeonghan is still trying to get over the trauma of being separated from Seungcheol for so long whilst pretending he's okay and planning Hansol's wedding. But things only get worse...(No knowledge of Brooklyn 99 is needed to understand the story)





	1. Come to Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [constellationskies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellationskies/gifts).



> Stephie! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> Happy birthday!  
> This year hasn't seemed to have been the best for either of us, but we made it work and we're here again for your annual birthday and Christmas fan fic :D  
> I love you so much! (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> Lila x

‘I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.’

Seungcheol and Jeonghan joined in with the cheering and clapping in the small chapel as Hansol and his wife, Lila, kissed each other. When they parted, they walked down the aisle together, unable to stop smiling. Their best man, Jisoo, along with Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Jihoon, three bridesmaids, and the maid of honour followed them; the rest of the congregation tossing white flower petals into the air as they went.

Jeonghan sighed happily as he looked at everyone’s smiling faces. It had been two years since he had been taken to the safe house, a year since he’d been freed, and after only a week of being back out in Seoul, he had been thrown into helping Hansol and Lila plan their wedding. It had been hectic, but worth it. He had helped to do this.

‘The ceremony was amazing, angel,’ Seungcheol whispered to him as he wrapped his arm around Jeonghan’s waist.

The pink-haired man giggled but removed Seungcheol’s hand from his waist. ‘You’ll crease my suit.’

Seungcheol let out a quiet growl and replaced his hand on Jeonghan’s waist, ever so slightly lower than before. ‘I want to crease it. Come on, let’s go home.’

Jeonghan tutted. As much as he may have wanted to go back to their shared apartment with their cat, he also wanted to attend the reception. ‘We can have sex later. I want to go to the reception. I organised it. And I want to see Hansol and Lila dance together. Don’t you think they’re cute?’

The police captain grumbled as he looked over at the newly wedded couple that were having pictures taken in the entrance of the chapel. Lila looked gorgeous in her white wedding dress with pink flower petals in her brown curly hair, and Hansol looked just as good in his pastel grey suit. But as lovely as the couple looked together, they didn’t have anything on the inherent beauty and gracefulness of Jeonghan. Seungcheol loved the younger man with everything in him. Nothing made him happier than waking up beside Jeonghan every morning, or going to work together, or going _home_ together. Seungcheol smiled, remembering how they always held hands when they entered and left the precinct, and how Jeonghan would sleepily cling to Seungcheol as he made them coffee in the morning, and how he would wrap his arms around Jeonghan’s waist from behind and pepper kisses all over his neck as the sergeant made them dinner in the evenings. And there was their adorable ginger kitten who was only six months old and she curled up on Jeonghan’s lap on the weekends as they both napped and if that wasn’t the cutest thing Seungcheol had ever seen, then he didn’t know what was.

Seungcheol smiled as he stared at his angel. He loved Jeonghan with all of his heart, and if he was being honest, he’d already bought an engagement ring. It was a plain silver band, nothing flashy, other than that Seungcheol had had his name engraved on the inside. He didn’t know when he was going to propose, though: the moment had to be perfect, just like his Hannie.

They got into the cars and drove to the hotel where the reception was being held, and Seungcheol gasped when he saw the decorations in the big function room. All of the tables were covered with white silk cloth, and each of the chairs had a big gypsum bow tired to the back of them. On the table tops, pink petals were scattered beside the rose gold cutlery, and flower arrangements of green ferns, white foxglove, and pink roses stood in vases at the fringes of the room. Big sashes of white and pink cotton draped down from the ceiling and the low lights cast a whimsical glow over the room.

‘You did all of this?’ Seungcheol whispered, still looking every which way, the smell of the flowers making him feel a little dizzy.

Jeonghan hummed in affirmation beside him.

‘Yoon Jeonghan, why the hell are you a police officer and not an interior designer?’

The other man giggled and wrapped his hand around Seungcheol’s arm. ‘You think I should quit then?’

Seungcheol sighed. He’d thought about asking Jeonghan to pick a new career path a few times now. Jeonghan was an amazing detective, and he’d worked incredibly hard to become a sergeant. But the time Jeonghan had spent in the safe house had made Seungcheol scared for his safety. But it may not make all that much difference. Jeonghan had put criminals in prison that hated him, and being the boyfriend of the captain of a precinct would put a big target on his back. Seungcheol supposed he could quit, too, but like Jeonghan, there were people on the inside who hated him and could still come for him even if he was no longer captain. The only viable solution to ensure Jeonghan’s safety was to emigrate, but neither of them could speak another language. For now, all Seungcheol could do was try his best to keep Jeonghan safe and out of danger.

‘No,’ Seungcheol said. ‘You’re a good detective. But maybe you should do this on the side, You’re really good at it. I wouldn’t do it for free.’

Jeonghan giggled again and the rest of the guests began to trickle into the function room, so the couple took their seats on the groom’s side of the head table.

Seungcheol held Jeonghan’s hand under the table as they ate the wedding breakfast and sat through the speeches, pretending it was them at their own wedding. The decorations would be purple and grey, maybe silver, Seungcheol imagined. He and Jeonghan were no way near innocent enough to be able to pull off a pink and white colour scheme like Hansol and Lila could. What would they be wearing? Seungcheol would definitely be in a suit, but he wasn’t so sure about Jeonghan. The younger man had very eclectic tastes and it wouldn’t surprise Seungcheol if Jeonghan turned up to the altar wearing a wedding dress. He’d look good in it, too. But Seungcheol was getting ahead of himself: he hadn’t even asked Jeonghan to marry him yet. He tuned back into the speeches, listening as Jisoo called Hansol and Lila to the floor for their first dance.

Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile as he watched the couple dance, Soonyoung and Seungkwan signing for them with Jihoon accompanying them on the piano. They were truly such a sweet couple and they’d done so much for Seungcheol and Jeonghan. Seungcheol was incredibly happy for him. They deserved this.

His happiness dissipated immediately when Jisoo called for the bride and groom’s entourages to join them on the dance floor. He was not looking forward to this. Lila was British, as were her bridesmaids, and Seungcheol’s grasp of the English language only went as far as telling someone what his name was.

He went onto the floor, reluctantly separating from Jeonghan, just as the bridesmaid with blonde hair approached him.

‘Hello,’ she said. ‘You’re Seungcheol, right?’

Seungcheol let out a sigh of relief: she spoke perfect Korean. He would have to thank Lila later.

…

Jeonghan laughed as he watched Seungcheol get roped in a dance with Lila’s mum. Ever since the dance with the Korean speaking British bridesmaid, everyone had wanted to dance with Seungcheol. He wanted to as well, but he could dance with Seungcheol anytime he wanted to. He would let the other wedding guests have their fun with his boyfriend. The reception was winding down anyway: it wouldn’t be for much longer.

‘Jeonghannie!’

Jeonghan turned around just in time to catch Chan in his arms, and Mingyu and Wonwoo laughed as they walked over. The small family of three had kept in touch with the 99 even when Jeonghan had been confined to the safe house and they had grown close to all of the detectives at the precinct. Chan was actually meant to be a pageboy at the wedding, but it had clashed with Chan’s Christmas play at school, so Mingyu and Wonwoo had promised to bring him afterwards.

‘Hey, Chan,’ Jeonghan said, ruffling the child’s hair. ‘Was the play good? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.’

‘It was awesome! But don’t worry. Daddy filmed it.’

Jeonghan looked over at Chan’s parents and Mingyu smiled. ‘I’ll email it to you later.’

‘You can show me at the precinct if it’s easier. I have all of your presents there.’

‘Presents?!’ Chan exclaimed, bouncing in Jeonghan’s arms slightly.

‘Yep. But you won’t get any unless you go and tell Lila how lovely she looks in her dress.’

Chan gasped as he saw Lila and Hansol over Jeonghan’s shoulder, the couple slow dancing together now it was quieter. ‘I wanna see Lila’s dress!’ He scrambled out of Jeonghan’s arms and sprinted across the dance floor, Wonwoo and Mingyu following.

‘Thank, god, that’s over.’

Jeonghan turned around and smiled when he saw a weary-looking Seungcheol. ‘You want to go home?’

Seungcheol nodded ‘Yes, please. But I think I’m too tired for sex now.’

Jeonghan hummed and stepped closer to Seungcheol. ‘Are you sure about that?’ he asked, pressing his body against Seungcheol’s.

Seungcheol groaned and wrapped his arm around Jeonghan’s waist. No matter how tired he was, he could never resist his boyfriend. He leant down to kiss Jeonghan, but pulled away before their lips could touch when someone cleared their throat from behind them.

The couple turned around and both men smiled when they saw that the commissioner was stood behind them.

‘Commissioner, sir,’ Seungcheol said. ‘I thought you couldn’t make it to the wedding? Have you come to congratulate Hansol and Lila?’

‘Unfortunately, no. I came to deliver much graver news.’

‘What’s wrong?’ Jeonghan asked as he felt Seungcheol’s arm tighten around his waist.

The commissioner sighed. ‘I don’t know how to say this… Essentially, Lee Seokmin has escaped from jail.’

The colour drained from both Seungcheol’s and Jeonghan’s faces.

The commissioner continued. ‘The rest of his jopok is still in jail, so he’s powerless, but he’s still dangerous. Either way, I think Jeonghan should go back into a safe house.’

Before Seungcheol could open his mouth to protest, Hansol spoke.

‘Jeonghan isn’t going anywhere.’

Seungcheol and Jeonghan turned around and behind them were stood Hansol and Lila, along with the rest of the squad, including Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Chan.

‘We’ll protect Jeonghan,’ Jihoon said, already cracking his knuckles.

‘Just say the word,’ Minghao said as he got out his nunchucks and subsequently hit Junhui in the head with them.

Seungcheol smiled at his squad, then turned back to the commissioner. ‘Jeonghan won’t be going back into a safe house. I want extra police officers stationed outside the precinct and I want two more officers always on duty outside mine and Jeonghan’s apartment at all times. We’ll find Lee Seokmin ourselves.’

The commissioner nodded. ‘I’ll see to it straight away. But if you change your mind, Yoon, you know my number.’

Jeonghan nodded and the commissioner left, then the pink-haired detective felt a tugging on his suit pants. He looked down and forced a smile when he saw Chan.

‘What’s wrong, little man?’

‘Should I hide Socks from the bad man?’

Jeonghan bit his lip. ‘I’d maybe keep Socks inside for now.’

Mingyu came over and scooped his son up. ‘Come on, time to go home.’ He looked at Jeonghan then. ‘One of us will drop by the precinct in the morning.’

Jeonghan just nodded, feeling a little numb, and leant into Seungcheol’s body as the family of three left.

‘Everyone else,’ Seungcheol said, addressing his squad. ‘I want you to go home, right now, and get a good nights rest for tomorrow. I need you all on top form.’

‘Yes, sir!’

The 99 detectives began to leave, but Hansol and his wife stayed put.

‘Do you want me in, too, sir?’

Seungcheol shook his head. ‘Of course not. You’ve just got married. You should be spending time with Lila.’

Jeonghan glanced at the bride. She was clinging to Hansol’s arm and she had a soft smile on her face. She looked oddly giddy. Jeonghan would have assumed she was drunk if he hadn’t seen her only drink orange juice all night.

‘I want to help, though,’ Hansol said, completely adamant. ‘Jeonghan helped out so much with the wedding. It doesn’t seem right that I won’t be helping.’

Hansol had a point. Seungcheol mused it over for a moment. ‘Okay, if we get any leads that are worth investigating, then we’ll call you in, alright? But for now, spend some time with Lila. It’s only a week until Christmas and you’re going to London on the twenty-sixth for your honeymoon. I won’t call you in unnecessarily. Does that sound okay with you, Lila?’

She just nodded, still staring at Hansol, seemingly fascinated with her husband’s jawline. In all fairness, it was a pretty impressive jawline.

‘Thank you, captain. You two should get home. The bridesmaids can help us clear up.’

‘Are you sure?’ Jeonghan asked. He didn’t particularly feel like cleaning up the function room now, but he had promised since they had managed to rent the room for cheaper than usual since they had agreed that they’d clean up after the reception had finished.

‘Go home. It’s fine. You two need to spend some time together, too, in case something happens,’ Hansol finished in a whisper.

Seungcheol nodded, and without another word, he walked out of the function room, an arm still around Jeonghan’s waist. He led him out to where they had parked the car, and opened the door for his boyfriend. Seungcheol helped Jeonghan get in the passenger side, then fastened his seat belt for him.

Jeonghan would have normally batted his hands away and made a joke about it, but he let Seungcheol take care of him, trying to hold back his tears. He couldn’t believe this had happened. How had Lee managed to escape?

They drove back in silence until Seungcheol put the radio on, Christmas songs coming on. TWICE’s Heart Shaker and GOT7’s Miracle wasn’t really what Jeonghan wanted to listen to right now, but it served as a good distraction.

The radio turned off along with the car engine when Seungcheol pulled to a stop in the parking garage of their apartment building, and they both sat there, staring at other cars out of the windshield for a few moments before Jeonghan started to cry.

Seungcheol got out of the car then and hurried around to Jeonghan’s side. He threw open the door and immediately gathered his sergeant in his arms.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ he whispered into Jeonghan’s pink hair, but he knew that was far from the truth. But if his boyfriend saw that he was upset, too, then that would only make Jeonghan feel even worse.

‘It’s not though,’ Jeonghan said in between his sobs. ‘He’s going to kill me.’

Seungcheol pulled back then. Jeonghan was never like this. He was confident and bubbly and cheeky, and he was never afraid in the field. The time he was made to spend in the safe house last year had shaken him, forcing him to believe he was in danger. And he had been, but it obviously hadn’t been good for Jeonghan’s mental health, but the younger man had been hiding it from him over the past year, distracting himself with wedding planning. But the wedding was over and Lee had escaped from jail and now Jeonghan was bawling in their car. Seungcheol cupped his face in his hands, making Jeonghan look straight into his eyes. ‘Listen to me, baby. Lee Seokmin will not get within even ten feet of you, I _promise,_ okay? We’re going to catch him before he even comes close. And no matter what happens, you are not going back into a safe house. You are staying right by my side. I’ll protect you.’

Jeonghan nodded, then leant back into Seungcheol’s chest, his crying having subsided a little now. ‘Carry me inside?’

Without any hesitation, Seungcheol picked Jeonghan up in his arms, then shut the car door. He locked it before exiting the parking garage and carried Jeonghan to the lift. There was thankfully no else around: it was nearing one in the morning, but Seungcheol still would have carried his boyfriend.

They got out of the lift at the fifth floor, then Seungcheol proceeded to carry Jeonghan down the hallway, and there were two people there. Seungcheol’s heart sped up for a moment, but when he saw their uniforms, he calmed down. He had forgotten that he had asked for two officers to be on duty outside their apartment. He strolled right past them, not noticing if they gave him a puzzling look, and went into the apartment.

Their kitten, Holly, greeted them with meows at the front door and both men smiled down at her.

‘She’ll be so hungry,’ Jeonghan said.

Seungcheol nodded. ‘I’ll put you on our bed then I’ll go feed her before coming back, okay?’

Jeonghan hummed, still clinging to his boyfriend as he carried him down the small hallway and into their bedroom. The captain deposited him on the bed, kissed him on the forehead, then left the room.

The pink-haired man glanced around the bedroom then, checking to see if anything was out of place. The white bed sheets were still rumpled from this morning when they had been in a rush to get ready and hadn’t had chance to make it. Their works clothes from the day before the wedding were still in the hamper, waiting to be washed. All of the books on their bedside tables were in the same position, a light film of dust gathering on a few of them. It was exactly how they had left it. No one had been in here since they had left this morning.

A howl of wind brushed up against the closed window and Jeonghan jumped up to try the handle. It was locked.

He sat back down on the bed, a hand held to his heart. He was so paranoid, and he knew he shouldn’t be, not with Seungcheol here with him and two armed officers outside, but he still was. Just the thought of being separated from Seungcheol, whether it was because he had to be taken to a safe house again or because Lee got him, was too much for his heart to bear. He couldn’t be apart from Cheolie, not again.

Seungcheol came back in the room then. ‘You didn’t get changed?’

Jeonghan shook his head.

‘Want me to do it for you?’

‘… Yes, please.’

Seungcheol smiled and approached where his boyfriend was sat. He took off his blazer first, followed by his tie, his shirt, then his shoes and socks. He threw each item on the floor, and as each piece was removed, Seungcheol placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s skin. Jeonghan was so precious.

‘Hips up, angel.’

Jeonghan did as he was told, lifting up his hips so Seungcheol could remove his pants and underwear. He was sat naked on the bed now, and whilst Seungcheol would usually appreciate the sight for a moment before grabbing the lube and a condom, tonight was no longer about that.

‘Do you want to wear my clothes, baby?’

The sergeant bit his lip, then nodded, and Seungcheol turned to their wardrobe. He grabbed a shirt of his, as well as a pair of boxers, then turned back to the bed and re-dressed his boyfriend in them. Both items hung off his lithe frame, but they would keep him warm in the heated apartment.

‘Why don’t you get under the covers? I’ll just get changed and then I’ll join you.’

Jeonghan nodded, shuffling up the bed himself and curling up under the sheets on his side. He hated feeling like this. He was a police sergeant, for goodness sake. But he still felt so vulnerable. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. At least he really was safe here, and as happy as he could be considering the circumstances. He was surrounded by Seungcheol’s scent: that alone made him feel safe and loved.

The bed dipped then as Seungcheol climbed in, and immediately, Jeonghan was gathered in the police captain’s arms. ‘No one can get you here,’ he whispered. ‘I won’t let them take you from me again.’ Seungcheol pressed a kiss to the top of Jeonghan’s head, and the two men stayed cuddled together like that until the morning.

…

Seungcheol rewound the clip of CCTV from the street outside the prison for what seemed the hundredth time now. He was distracted by Jeonghan, and the man wasn’t even in his office. Seungcheol could see out of the window, watching as his sergeant attempted to review footage from inside the prison, but Seungcheol could see that Jeonghan’s heart wasn’t in it.

They were both tired, having stayed up for a few hours, just cuddling and listening to each other’s heartbeat. When they had awoken this morning, Seungcheol had let Jeonghan cling to him as he went about feeding Holly and making them both coffee. Seungcheol had even ended up dressing Jeonghan again, this time in a pair of grey slacks and a blue shirt of Seungcheol’s. The buttons were only just holding the material against Jeonghan’s thin frame, and whilst Seungcheol would normally been distracted from his work because of how cute Jeonghan looked, that wasn’t the case today. It was because of how distressed he looked. His face was stained with tears, his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be exhausted. Yesterday was supposed to have been a good day, and whilst it had been for the most part, the news they received at the end of it all wasn’t exactly a good reward to get after all of his hard work.

The lift pinged then, and Seungcheol smiled when he saw Wonwoo come in. That would cheer Jeonghan up. He watched as Wonwoo went over to the sergeant’s desk and got his phone out. They watched with fascination as Wonwoo showed them the video on his phone, both men smiling and laughing at what Seungcheol assumed was Chan in his school’s Christmas play. They both frowned suddenly and Wonwoo put the phone to his ear: the video would have stopped if someone had rung him. Seungcheol watched as Wonwoo’s eyes widened then handed the phone to Jeonghan. He took it, and as the phone call went on, Jeonghan got paler.

Seungcheol leapt up then and ran out of his office, going straight to his boyfriend’s side. ‘Who that on the phone?! What did they want?!’ he demanded.

‘It was Mingyu,’ Wonwoo said as he took the phone back with shaking hands. ‘Someone had called the house, asking for Chan. It was Lee Jaeeun. She told him that her dad is taking her to the zoo on Monday, then he’ll come and take Socks, and then he’ll kill Jeonghan.’

Jeonghan whimpered as he began to cry and Seungcheol hugged him immediately. All of this over a cat? Lee Seokmin was crazy. And he was also a dead man walking for making his boyfriend feel this way. Seungcheol took a deep breath, then glanced over at Jisoo, only to find that the whole squad were stood up, staring at them, the whole office silent.

‘Jisoo, arrange some protective custody for the Kim’s. Soonyoung, ring Hansol and let him know about the zoo on Monday. Everyone else, get down to Seoul Grand Park and put extra security measures in place.’

There was a moment of silence before the 99 sprung to life, phones ringing, detectives shouting, and Junhui throwing kimchi at Minghao. Once he was sure they were all doing their jobs, Seungcheol scooped Jeonghan up into his arms and carried him into his office. He laid him down on the settee in there, then Seungcheol covered him with his coat.

‘Cheolie?’ Jeonghan whispered. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You need to rest. I know you hardly got any sleep last night. But you’re safe here. I’m not going to leave this room, and you’re well protected here, too.’

Jeonghan managed a small smile, then he pouted, silently asking for a kiss.

With a smirk, Seungcheol obliged him, then when Jeonghan closed his eyes, Seungcheol returned to his desk, reviewing the CCTV with renewed vigour. They would catch Lee Seokmin. They had to.

…

Seungcheol stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to keep them warm, but he kept a firm eye on Jeonghan. The entire squad, including Hansol and Lila, were at Seoul Grand Park, and Jeonghan was trying to distract himself by attempting to rile Jihoon up.

He quickly scanned over the rest of the rest of his squad members. Jisoo was jumping up and down beside him, trying to get warm, and Minghao and Junhui were at a food stand nearby, trying to haggle with the owner for a cheaper price. Soonyoung and Seungkwan were playing on their phones, and Hansol and Lila were cuddled together. Seungcheol hadn’t wanted Lila to come, but he’d been there when Soonyoung made the call to let Hansol know he was needed for the operation at the zoo. She had started to sob and beg and she sounded so distraught that Seungcheol couldn’t say no to her. He had known Lila for almost as long as Hansol had and he’d never seen Lila act like that. She was calm and kind, not hysterical, not ever. Plus, since a couple of weeks before the wedding, Lila had been glued to Hansol’s side. She was never clingy either. What was going on that made her act like this?

He couldn’t really do anything about it now, though. Lila was here now, and Seungcheol wouldn’t send her away. He’d made her and Soonyoung wear bulletproof vests under their jumpers, and everyone else had one on, too, along with a gun concealed under their jacket so as not to disturb the general public. They were all in plain clothes, but it wouldn’t matter if Lee Seokmin were here. He knew what the 99 looked like. They needed to blend in more.

‘Squad! Let’s go in the gift shop!’ he shouted and they all filed into the nearby shop.

It was small, and mainly filled with children and their parents since school had finished for Christmas, but Jeonghan managed to squeeze his way through the shop until he managed to tuck himself under Seungcheol’s arm.

‘Hey,’ Seungcheol said. ‘You feeling okay?’

‘A little sick, if I’m honest.’ It had passed lunchtime, and Jeonghan had eaten neither breakfast nor dinner, no matter what food Seungcheol offered him.

‘It’ll be okay, baby. Want me to buy you something to take your mind off it?’

Jeonghan hummed and glanced around the shop, smiling when his eyes landed on medium sized shark plushie. ‘That.’

Seungcheol chuckled, but strode over to the display stand and retrieved the teddy before taking it over to the till to pay for it, Jeonghan at his side.

‘Here you go, angel,’ Seungcheol said as he handed his boyfriend the plushie.

‘Thank you, Cheolie,’ Jeonghan leant up and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. ‘We should find the others.’

Seungcheol agreed, but regretted when they came upon Jisoo, Minghao, and Junhui. The two latter detectives had matching animal hats on and they looked utterly ridiculous.

‘Why on earth are you wearing those?’ Seungcheol asked.

‘You never said they couldn’t,’ Jisoo said.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. ‘Just round everyone up and get them to meet us outside.’

‘Yes, captain.’

Seungcheol left the gift shop with Jeonghan and the couple sat on the nearest bench. The wood was frigid and cold beneath them, but neither man cared, just focusing on how their bodies felt pressed close together. The rest of the squad came out of the gift shop gradually, and once they had all come over to the bench, Seungcheol addressed them all.

‘Okay, we’re going to split up into three groups now. Keep an eye out for Lee, and if you see or hear anything, contact me on the walkie-talkie. Group one will be Jeonghan, Hansol, Lila, and me and we’ll be heading up towards the big cats. Group two will be Jisoo, Minghao, and Junhui.’

‘Aw, come on, captain!’ Jisoo shouted, but Seungcheol ignored him.

‘Jisoo, you’ll be in charge. You’ll be heading up towards the monkey enclosures. And group three will be Jihoon, Seungkwan, and Soonyoung. Jihoon will be in charge and you’ll be going towards the elephants, rhinos, and meerkats. Try to blend in, but don’t interact with the public too much, and don’t linger in one place for too long, alright?’

‘Yes, captain,’ they all said.

‘Alright. Let’s go! And stay safe.’

Jisoo and Jihoon’s group went in their separate directions, then, leaving just Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Hansol, and Lila.

The captain brought his and Jeonghan’s joined hands up to his lips and kissed his boyfriend’s knuckles. ‘Ready?’

Jeonghan bit his lip, squeezing his plushie tighter. ‘I guess I have to be.’

Seungcheol gave him a small smile and they both stood up. ‘Keep Lila safe,’ he said to Hansol, and the younger detective simply squeezed his wife’s waist.

‘Don’t worry, captain. I wouldn’t dream of letting anything happen to her.’

Seungcheol nodded and the group of four set off towards the big cats, stopping off at the giraffe enclosure on the way. Jeonghan ran up to the fence as soon as he saw the giraffes, a massive grin on his face. It was the happiest Seungcheol had seen him since the wedding reception. He should have just brought him to the zoo straight away. He walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. ‘Enjoying yourself now?’ he whispered.

Jeonghan nodded. ‘Yeah. Sorry I’ve been so down lately.’

‘You don’t need to apologise for anything, angel. None of this is your fault.’ Seungcheol rubbed his hands over Jeonghan’s hips. ‘Everything will be fine.’ As he spoke, Seungcheol scanned the area with his eyes. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was mainly just children and parents. But Wonwoo had said that Seokmin might have been coming with Jaeeun. He needed to consider that before he made an arrest if Lee showed up with his young daughter.

‘Jeonghan?’ Hansol asked and they both looked up. The young detective was on his own for once; Lila was stood a few metres away, smiling as she took photos of the giraffes.

‘What is it?’

‘I was wondering if you could talk to Lila?’

Jeonghan frowned. ‘How come?’

‘Well, since just before the wedding, she’s become super clingy. And you heard her on the phone when Soonyoung rung, captain. Clingy and panicked isn’t like her, but she won’t tell me what’s wrong. But she might tell you.’

The sergeant hummed. Lila did trust him. And it’s not that she didn’t Hansol, but whatever was going, she felt like she couldn’t tell him. Maybe someone else asking what was up would help. ‘Sure. I’ll talk to her.’ He moved away from the fence and kissed Seungcheol on the cheek. ‘I’ll be right back once I’ve spoken to her.’

‘We should probably head for the big cats now, actually. We’ve been here long enough.’

Jeonghan nodded. ‘We’ll follow.’

Seungcheol bit his lip. He wasn’t so sure about not being able to see Jeonghan in a situation like this, but Jeonghan was already feeling scared. If Seungcheol showed that he shared his fear, then that would only make Jeonghan feel ten times worse. ‘Okay. But don’t trail too far behind.’ He kissed his boyfriend back, then he and Hansol set off walking, towards where the lions could be heard roaring.

Jeonghan went over to where Lila was still taking photos and he smiled at her. ‘Hey, Lila.’

‘Hi.’ She looked around frantically then, her eyes widening when she saw how far away her husband had gotten from her. ‘Hansol!’

He simply turned around and waved at her, then carried on walking with Seungcheol. Lila made to run towards him, but Jeonghan hooked his arm through hers before she could.

‘Come on. You can walk with me for a change.’

Lila nodded, attempting to give the sergeant a smile. ‘Okay. How are you feeling?’

‘Not great, to be honest. But what about you?’

She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Come off it, Lila. I’ve known you for years, and I got to know you even better when I planned your wedding. I know you’re acting differently. No one runs to their husband because they’re ten metres away from them. What’s wrong?’

Lila’s fake smile grew wider. ‘Nothing.’

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. ‘Unless it’s a British wedding custom to become super clingy and attached to your spouse once you marry them, there’s something wrong.’

Lila shook her head. ‘Seriously, Jeonghan, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.’

‘That’s bullshit and you know it, Lila,’ he said, facing forwards, watching as Seungcheol walked ahead of them with Hansol.

‘Jeonghan…’

He rolled his eyes and carried on walking, but Lila didn’t move. He tried to tug her forwards, but she let out a whimper of pain. Jeonghan turned to look at Lila then, concerned, but his eyes widened in fear when he saw that pressed against Lila’s neck was the blade of a pocketknife, and the one holding it there was none other than Lee Seokmin.

‘Hello, Sergeant Yoon,’ he said, smiling at Jeonghan.

He hadn’t known what to really expect. Jeonghan had only ever seen photographs of Lee, but in those, he looked slick and cool. Now, his hair was unkempt and his face was peppered with stubble. He looked a crazy mess. There was no sign of Jaeeun, though. ‘H-hi,’ he whispered, dropping his shark plushie. This man had been the one who had threatened his life, was the reason why he had been confined to a safe house for a whole year, and had put the entire squad in danger. And now he was putting Lila, a civilian who had nothing to with any of this, in danger, and it scared Jeonghan more than anything had before. He turned slightly, trying to find Seungcheol in the crowd, but Lee tutted.

‘I wouldn’t shout for your boyfriend if I were you. Just keep quiet and let me guide you through the zoo, or I’ll kill your pretty friend here, okay?’

Jeonghan just nodded, watching as Lee moved the blade down from Lila’s neck to her waist so no one would see it, but so he could still hurt her.

They moved through the zoo slowly, and Jeonghan tried to look normal, like he wasn’t being threatened with causing the death of his best friend’s wife, and tried to spot the other squad members by the enclosures. He didn’t see any of them, though, and he was running out of options. He had his gun in his jacket, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him whether or not he had put bullets in it, and even if he had, Lee would probably kill Lila before he even had the chance to get it out. He had no choice but to obey Lee.

They walked for what felt like an hour, and they ended up on the outskirts of Seoul Grand Park. It was a lot quieter here, some of the buildings looking old and decrepit, and Lee led them over to what seemed to be a disused feeding room. He shoved Lila inside first, then Jeonghan, before he stepped inside himself. He held the knife out with one hand, his palm turned up in the other. ‘Give me your phones and your walkies. And your gun, sergeant.’

They handed them over with shaking hands, but Lee glared at Lila when she didn’t give him a walkie-talkie. ‘Where’s yours?’

‘I-I… I…’ Lila started to cry and Jeonghan stepped in front of her to protect her.

‘She wasn’t given one. She’s not a police officer. She was just at the zoo with us. She’s Detective Chwe’s wife.’

Lee seemed to ignore what he said and backed towards the door. He opened it slightly and threw the phones and walkie-talkie out onto the ground, but put the gun in his back pocket. Out of his other back pocket, he brought out another walkie-talkie and threw it on the floor. ‘I’ll contact you on this.’

‘What are you going to do to us?’ Jeonghan asked. He was still scared, but he had to protect Lila now. He couldn’t just curl in on himself and cry like he wanted to.

Lee’s mouth curled up into a smirk. ‘Oh, you’ll see, Sergeant. Don’t go anywhere.’ He left then, bolting the door behind him, and as soon as the sound of Lee’s footsteps faded, Jeonghan dashed over to the door and tried to break it down with his shoulder, but it was no use: it was too thick.

He turned around and looked at the rest of the room. There were no windows and no other doors, and apart from dust and cobwebs, the only other things in the room where a table that had probably once been used to cut food up on, and a chair, which Lila was now sat on, sobbing.

Jeonghan knelt down in front of her and held her hands. ‘It’s going to be okay,’ he said, even though he had no idea if that were true. ‘We’ll get out of here, somehow.’

‘We won’t. And then he’s going to hate me…’ she whispered, on the verge of hyperventilating.

‘Are you talking about Hansol?’ Jeonghan asked, trying to be sympathetic but he really didn’t understand what was going on with Lila. ‘He could never hate you. Why would he hate you?’

‘Because I didn’t tell him,’ she whispered.

‘Tell him what, sweetheart?’

‘That I’m pregnant.’


	2. Say Yes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungcheol and Hansol try to rescue Jeonghan and Lila.

‘I’m pregnant.’

Jeonghan took a moment just to stare of Lila. That certainly made her clingy behaviour towards Hansol suddenly make a whole lot more sense. But he was also slightly amazed that she already knew. ‘That was quick,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked with a sniff.

‘You only got married three days ago.’

Lila shook her head. ‘I was pregnant before the wedding.’

Jeonghan nodded, understanding now. Right before the wedding was when Lila had started to become clingy, and she had wailed so much when she was separated from Hansol to spend the night before the wedding away from him. Were all pregnant women like this? He thought back to the last female detective they had on the squad and when she had fallen pregnant, but she had been pretty much the same, albeit not going into the field as much so she wouldn’t hurt her baby. But her personality didn’t change. Why was Lila acting like this? Jeonghan supposed it could have been because this was going to be her first child. She was going to give birth in a foreign country where none of her family members lived, unless you were counting Hansol’s family, and she would have to bring it up here, too. Lila’s Korean was great, but there were times when she didn’t always understand what was going on because of the cultural difference or if someone spoke too fast. If Jeonghan could get pregnant and he was in a foreign country, he’d probably be that clingy towards Seungcheol, too. ‘I see. And Hansol… he doesn’t know?’

‘No…’

‘Why haven’t you told him?’ Jeonghan asked, taking Lila’s hands in his again.

‘I was going to. When we arrived in London for our honeymoon. I wanted to surprise him… I don’t even know if we’ll get to London now.’ Lila sobbed and Jeonghan immediately hugged the younger girl. They needed to get out of here. But he had no idea how.

…

Seungcheol looked over his shoulder for what seemed like the hundredth time, just to double check on Jeonghan. His smile from Hansol’s idle chatter turned into a frown when he couldn’t see Jeonghan or Lila.

‘Hansol…’

‘Hm?’ The younger detective turned around. ‘What’s wrong, captain?’

‘I can’t see them.’

Before Hansol could reply, Seungcheol was already weaving his way through the other zoo visitors. There weren’t that many other people here since it was so close to Christmas. He should have been able to spot Jeonghan and Lila easily, as he had been doing for the past couple of minutes. But as they went further and further back the way they came, there was no sign of either of them, and Seungcheol swore his heart stopped when he found the shark plushie on the ground.

Hansol gasped. ‘H-he could have just have dropped it? I’ll ring Lila.’ The detective got out his mobile with shaking hands and selected his wife’s number, and both men listened as it rang out before eventually going to voice mail. ‘Try the sergeant on the walkie-talkie?’

Seungcheol nodded, his hands shaking, too, as he retrieved the walkie-talkie from his coat pocket. ‘Sergeant Yoon, do you copy? Over.’ No reply. ‘Sergeant Jeonghan, are you there? Over.’

There was a laugh over the line then – one that most definitely didn’t sound like Jeonghan’s. ‘If you want to see your precious Sergeant and his girlfriend alive again, then you’ll go to the penguin enclosure. And don’t even think about arresting me or shooting me. I have someone waiting to kill them both if something happens to me.’

The line went dead and Seungcheol gripped the walkie-talkie so hard he thought it might break. Lee Seokmin had his Hannie. His precious angelic Hannie who never did anything wrong. And know he had taken him, which was Jeonghan’s worst fear. How could he have let this happen? He had _promised_ Jeonghan that he would be safe. And now he was god knows where.

‘Seungcheol…’ Hansol whispered and the captain looked over at him with alarm. The younger detective never called him by his first name. He was always incredibly respectful. He couldn’t even call Seungcheol by his given name when he got drunk on squad night’s out. ‘He’s bluffing, right? He has no men. They’ve all been arrested, haven’t they? What if one of them…’ Hansol sobbed, the sound having a similar shape as the name of his wife.

Seungcheol swallowed down the lump in his throat and willed himself to hold back his tears as he grabbed Hansol by the shoulders. ‘You’re right, it’s a bluff. He has no one. He’s probably just keeping them locked up somewhere, but we can’t know for sure. Let’s just see what he has to say, okay? I want you to radio Jisoo’s group, and I’ll contact Jihoon’s.’

Hansol nodded, wiped away his tears, then got his own walkie-talkie out. ‘D-detective Hong, reconvene at the penguins, over.’

‘Okay, Detective Chwe. What’s going on? Over.’

‘I-I’ll tell you when we get there. Over.’

Seungcheol repeated the same words to Jihoon, and within a matter of minutes, they were all stood in front of the penguin enclosure.

‘What’s going on?’ Soonyoung asked, his arm linked with Jihoon’s.

‘Lee Seokmin is here,’ Seungcheol said, watching as each face before him turned to despair. ‘And he has Jeonghan and Lila.’

Seungkwan gasped and immediately ran to give Hansol a hug, as did Jisoo.

‘How could this happen?’ Soonyoung asked, concerned for once.

Seungcheol shook his head. ‘It was my fault.’

‘No, it was mine,’ Hansol said, breaking out of Seungkwan and Jisoo’s embraces. ‘I shouldn’t have tried to get Jeonghan to find out what was going on with Lila.’

‘Now, that was a fatal flaw, indeed, Detective Chwe.’

The entire squad turned around, and stood only a metre away from them was Lee Seokmin, smirking as he held a walkie-talkie. Seungcheol wanted nothing more than just to run forwards and throttle him for taking his Hannie away from him, but he forced himself to stay put: doing that would only make the situation worse.

Hansol didn’t have that kind of restraint, though. It was odd to see the usually shy man launch forwards like that, but luckily, Jisoo and Seungkwan grabbed him before his fist could make contact with Lee’s face.

The former jopok leader just laughed at the enraged look on Hansol’s face. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t hurt them. For now, anyway.’

‘What do you want from us, Lee?’ Seungcheol said, trying not to hiss out the words.

‘I want you to free my men so they can help me build my empire back up.’

‘Seriously?’ Hansol scoffed. ‘As soon as this is over, you’re going to be arrested again. You won’t need your men for anything.’

‘And if you arrest me, you’ll never see your pretty wife again.’

Hansol went to speak again, but Seungcheol held his hand up, stopping him.

‘If we give you that, will you let Jeonghan and Lila go?’

Lee nodded. ‘I’m a man of my word, Captain Choi. And to show you how good I am, I’ll free one of them. You can even pick who you save.’ He brought a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and handed it to Seungcheol. ‘Take all the time you need. But whoever you choose not to save… well.’ Lee smiled and wandered off a little, leaning against the enclosure fence as he watched them.

When Seungcheol realised the jopok leader wasn’t going to be going anywhere, he brought the walkie-talkie up to his mouth and pressed the button on it. ‘Jeonghan? Over.’

‘Cheolie!’

Seungcheol breathed a sigh of relief: Jeonghan was still alive. ‘Are you and Lila okay?’

‘We’re fine. A bit shaken, but Lee hasn’t hurt us.’

‘Are you still in the zoo?’ Seungcheol asked, gripping the shark plushie he hadn’t realised he was still holding a little tighter.

‘Yes, but I’m not sure where. We’re right at the edge, I think. We’re in a disused feeding room, but I don’t know in what direction. I was trying to spot the other squad members as he walked us here and Lee had a knife pressed to Lila’s waist.’

Hansol paled at the new information and he threw Lee a sharp glare, to which the other man just laughed, even though he couldn’t hear what was being said.

‘Okay, here’s the situation. We’ve met up with Lee. He wants his men freed from jail and then he’ll free you two. But to show us that we can trust him, he’s agreed to let one of you go now. We can pick who, but it sounds like whoever we don’t pick will be in for a rough time afterwards.’

There was a pause over the line. ‘Pick Lila.’

‘Jeonghan-’

‘No, Seungcheol, it has to be Lila, not me. Is Hansol there?’ Jeonghan asked.

‘I’m here,’ the younger detective replied.

‘Give him the walkie. I’m going to hand mine over to Lila. They need to talk and you’ll see why she needs to be freed and not me.’

Puzzled, Seungcheol handed the walkie-talkie over to Hansol. The captain heard Lila briefly over the line asking him to hold up to his ear as she was going to whisper something to him. He did as she asked, and as Hansol brought the walkie-talkie down from his ear, Seungcheol saw that he had begun to cry. He returned the device to the captain. ‘Jeonghan’s right,’ he said. ‘Lila has to be freed.’

‘Why?’ As much as Seungcheol liked the girl, she wasn’t his Jeonghan, his angel, his everything. He had no qualms in leaving her to be rescued until later.

‘Because she’s pregnant. She’s just told me.’

Seungcheol’s eyes widened and he pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. ‘Okay, Lila’s going to be freed first, Hannie. But we will still save you. I…’ He was going to say that he promised, but he had stopped himself. He’d broken his promise last time. What made him think he could keep it this time?

‘I know. I love you, Cheolie.’

Seungcheol bit back his tears. Jeonghan sounded so tired and defeated. After all of this was over, _when_ all of this was over, he would make sure Jeonghan got the proper help he needed to get over this ordeal properly. ‘I love you, too, angel.’

Lee came back over then, still smirking as he snatched the walkie-talkie from Seungcheol. ‘Have you made your decision?’

‘We want Lila freed first,’ Hansol said. ‘But you better not touch her.’

The jopok leader laughed as he sauntered away.

‘Oh, I’m going to touch her. Lots and lots and lots and _lots._ ’

Hansol went to run after him, but once again, Jisoo and Seungkwan held him back from doing anything stupid.

‘They’ll both be okay, right, captain?’ Seungkwan asked, on the verge of tears with worry.

‘They’ll be fine. We’ll get both Jeonghan and Lila back. Jeonghan wasn’t sure where Lee had taken them, but he said it was at the edge of the park in a disused feeding room. Jihoon and Soonyoung, I want you to get some park maps and scout around the area. I’ll call for backup and some of them can join you. Jisoo, Junhui, and Minghao, I want you to find as many zookeepers and staff as possible. Tell them what’s going on and have the park evacuated of civilians, but make sure some of the staff stay behind. They’re the eyes and ears of this place. They can maybe help us find Jeonghan and Lila before the handover needs to happen, and if not, they can help us locate them when Lee gives them to us. I’m going to call the commissioner to arrange back up, and Seungkwan, I want you to take Hansol somewhere warm and keep him calm. Does everyone understand what they need to do?’

‘Yes, sir!’ The 99 all went their separate ways, and once they had gone, Seungcheol took his phone out of his pocket. His thumb paused at the home button for a moment as he stared at his wallpaper. It was of Jeonghan, of course, knelt on their bed, a jumper of Seungcheol’s slipping off his shoulder as he winked at the camera. He would see his boyfriend again. He had to.

…

By 5pm, the zoo had been closed and evacuated, save for a handful of zookeepers, the 99, and the groups of policemen that were surrounding Seoul Grand Park’s perimeter. For an operation like this, and for one so close to Christmas, this many officers wouldn’t be called out to perform their duties, but they had all jumped when they found out a sergeant and a detective’s wife was involved, plus the commissioner was offering double pay to anyone who helped out. Lee was dangerous, and he needed capturing before he could hurt anyone else.

The 99 and the remaining zookeepers were sat in the zoo’s café, keeping warm as it approached midnight. It was the only warm place left on site, apart from the Reptile House, but that did nothing to allay either Seungcheol or Hansol’s fears.

Both men were pacing up and down between the tables, worrying for their significant others. Jisoo had found the feeding room where Jeonghan and Lila had been kept, if their mobiles on the ground outside of it were anything to go off, but they were no longer there. Lee wasn’t stupid: he had probably realised that Jeonghan would have described to them where he and Lila were. He had moved them as soon as they told Lee that they wanted Lila freed first.

Seungcheol glanced at the clock in the café. Lee had never said when he would let Lila go, but it had to be soon, right? And the sooner she was freed, then the sooner they could concentrate on finding and rescuing Jeonghan. But Seungcheol didn’t even know where to begin with that. They had agreed the other captive would be freed if Lee’s men were freed from prison. That could never happen. Lee’s jopok had been one of the biggest in South Korea, and by the end of it, just over three hundred men had been arrested. There was no way, however much he wanted it, that the commissioner could justify freeing three hundred plus men for the sake of one police sergeant when the threat to the Korean population would be great. They would have to rescue Jeonghan in a different way. Seungcheol just didn’t know how.

Seungcheol’s walkie-talkie crackled to life and Lee’s voice came through. ‘Testing, 1, 2, 3. Is Hansol there to collect his wife?’

Both Seungcheol and Hansol rushed over to the table where the walkie-talkie was, but the younger boy reached it first. ‘Where is she?!’ he shouted.

‘She’s at the fountains, isn’t that right, Lila? But I’d hurry up. I’m still with her. She might have a little… accident.’

Lila screamed her husband’s name in the background, but was cut off halfway through with gurgling and splashing water.

‘Oh, dear. I forgot that humans couldn’t breathe underwater. Oh, well.’

The walkie went dead and Hansol glared at the nearest zookeeper. ‘Where are the fountains?!’

‘Err…’

‘Show me!’

The zookeeper ran out of the café, Hansol hot on his heels along with Seungcheol, Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan.

The café was near the entrance to the zoo, and the fountain was right in the centre of Seoul Grand Park, but they made it there within a minute. There was no sign of Lee, but Lila was there, sat in the fountain, a blindfold over her eyes, hands tied behind her back, the poor girl shouting for help.

‘Lila!’

She cried out in relief when she heard her husband’s voice, and a moment later, Hansol lifted her out of the water. He placed her down on the ground and quickly untied the rope around her wrists before pulling the blindfold down.

As soon as their eyes met, Lila practically leapt into Hansol’s arms with a sob and he held her tight. ‘Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?’

‘No,’ she whispered. ‘He only ducked my head under the water.’

‘And the baby?’

She shook her head. ‘He didn’t know, so I think they should be fine.’

‘Thank god. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you. To both of you.’ Hansol pressed a kiss to Lila’s forehead and he scooped her up into his arms.

Seungcheol came over then. ‘Lila, I know this isn’t the most appropriate time to ask, but did Lee say anything about where he was taking Jeonghan?’

She shook her head. ‘No. After we spoke to you on the walkie-talkie, he came back and blindfolded us before taking us somewhere else. I don’t know where Jeonghan is. I’m so sorry, Seungcheol.’

The police captain sighed. He’d been counting on Lila knowing something. ‘It’s fine. You need to get checked over. There’s an ambulance waiting at the entrance. I hope you and the baby are doing fine. Go on, Hansol. Take her, and go with her to the hospital if you need to.’

Hansol nodded and whilst holding his wife, he also held out Seungcheol’s walkie. ‘Thank you for this, captain.’

Seungcheol just nodded as he took the device from Hansol. He knew what he had meant to say. _Thank you for letting us rescue Lila first and not Jeonghan._ Seungcheol could only hope that his angel would forgive him once they were reunited.

The walkie crackled back into life just as Hansol and Lila left, and Lee’s voice came in over the line again. ‘So, you found Mrs Chwe. I thought I’d put her in the water to scare her. Do you think she liked it? I think Jeonghan will like his watery surprise, too.’

Seungcheol narrowed his eyes. ‘Jeonghan’s in the water, too?’

Lee laughed. ‘Yes, captain. I’d move even faster than I did with Lila, though. Things might get snappy pretty quickly…’

‘Hold on, why are you just giving Jeonghan to us?’ Seungcheol asked, suspicious. There had to be more to this. ‘We haven’t made a deal about freeing your men.’ No reply. ‘Lee? Over.’ Nothing. ‘Dammit,’ Seungcheol muttered and he put the walkie away. He looked up at Jisoo, Jihoon, Seungkwan, and the zookeeper. ‘I don’t know where he is. Where else is there water here?’

‘There are no other attractions with water features apart from this fountain,’ the zookeeper said. ‘But some of the enclosures have a lot of water. There’s the penguins, alligators, and the sea lions.’

Seungcheol looked at the zookeeper with wide eyes. ‘The alligators. That’s where Jeonghan is. Lee said something about it getting snappy. It has to be the alligators.’

The zookeeper ran off then without another word and Seungcheol, Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan followed him.

The alligator enclosure turned out to be on the other side of Seoul Grand Park, but when they got there, everything was completely dark.

‘Jeonghan?’ Seungcheol shouted.

‘Cheolie?’

The captain breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Where are you? We can’t see anything.’

‘I-I don’t know. Lee blindfolded me. But my feet are wet.’ Jeonghan whimpered. ‘What’s going on, Cheolie?’

‘Just give us a minute, angel.’ Seungcheol turned to the zookeeper. ‘Can you give us some light? Our torches won’t be bright enough.’

The zookeeper nodded. ‘I’ll need to go to the nearest feeding room to turn the floodlights on. It’ll take a few minutes.’

‘Hurry.’

The zookeeper ran off and Seungcheol turned back to where Jeonghan’s voice came from. ‘Are you okay? Did Lee hurt you?’

‘N-no, I’m fine. Just scared.’ The sergeant sniffed. ‘Did you get Lila?’

‘Yeah. Hansol has taken to get her checked over. And we’ll do the same thing with you once we get the lights on. Just keep talking to me, baby. Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan are here with me, too.’

‘Hey, sarge,’ Jihoon mumbled.

‘Hi, Jihoon. Did you like the meerkats? You’re about the same size as one,’ Jeonghan teased, probably trying to distract himself.

Jihoon just huffed. ‘Yeah, yeah, very funny.’

‘Boo?’

Seungkwan hummed. ‘Yeah, sarge?’

‘Lee really missed you. He talked about you after Lila and I got to talk to Seungcheol and Hansol. He was hurt that you didn’t say anything to him. When you find him, you should go and see him. I think he would like that.’

‘Okay.’

‘Jisoo?’

‘What is it, Jeonghan?’

‘I’m sorry for all the times that I’ve told you that you’re shit at guitar. I didn’t mean it.’

Jisoo chuckled. ‘I know, Jeonghan.’

‘Why are you saying this?’ Seungcheol asked, feeling a lump rise up in his throat. ‘Why are you saying goodbye to us?’

‘Because I can feel the water rising up my legs and I think there might be something here with me, wherever I am,’ Jeonghan said, his voice breaking into a sob at the end. ‘Cheolie, I lo-’

‘No!’ Seungcheol shouted, feeling tears fill his eyes. ‘You’re not saying that! You’re not going to die!’

The flood lights surrounding the alligator enclosure switched on then, revealing Jeonghan, stood in the middle of a pond, blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back. And sat around the edge of the enclosure were three alligators, all looking sleepy, but that was probably far from what they were actually feeling now that they could see Jeonghan.

Seungcheol held a hand to his mouth to stop the horrified gasp that wanted to escape his mouth. This couldn’t be happening. This sort of stuff didn’t happen. It _couldn’t_ happen, not to Yoon Jeonghan. But it was and Seungcheol had to come up with a plan, and the first thing he needed to do was calm his boyfriend down.

‘Hannie, angel, the lights have turned on and I can see you now. I’m going to describe to you where you are, but you can’t move, okay?’

‘… okay,’ he whispered.

‘Good. You’re inside the alligator enclosure, stood in the middle of the pond.’

Seungcheol saw Jeonghan’s bound hands twitch. ‘Are there alligators in here?’

‘Yes. Three. They’re not anywhere near you, I promise, baby.’

The zookeeper came back then, panting, and his eyes widened when he saw where Jeonghan was stood. ‘Oh, fuck.’

‘Yeah,’ Seungcheol whispered. ‘Some advice on what to do right now would be brilliant.’

‘Okay, Sergeant Yoon, can you hear me?’ the zookeeper asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘Okay, that’s great. First of all, don’t worry about the water. It rises and sinks every night as part of a filtration system to clean the pond. It’ll only go up as far as your knees before it goes down again. You can’t drown.’

Jeonghan let out a shuddery breath. ‘What about the alligators?’

‘They shouldn’t go anywhere near you. They only eat people if they’re absolutely starving, and they don’t usually eat anything at all in the winter, so you’re in luck. If any of them do approach you, though, they might try to bite you. If you don’t struggle, they’ll assume you’re on the verge of death since they’ll be able to tell if you have a pulse or not, and then they should leave you alone. Just stay as still as you can.’

‘Okay.’

Seungcheol smiled at the zookeeper. ‘Thank you. Do you have a key to get into the enclosure?’

The zookeeper looked over at the padlocked gate and frowned. ‘Not for that lock I don’t.’

‘What do you mean?’

The pair went over and on the ground lay a broken chain, and now holding the gate shut was a kryptonite keeper bike lock and Seungcheol groaned. ‘Lee must have replaced it. How well do alligators react to noise?’

‘Not well. They might attack. What kind of noise is it?’

Seungcheol took out his gun. ‘This one. Standard bolt cutters won’t cut this bike lock off, and the heavy-duty equipment needed for getting this off will be louder than a gunshot. It’s our only option if there are no other entrances.’

The zookeeper bit his lip. ‘A gunshot will draw attention to you. You’ll have to be quick when you go in.’

‘What if Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan stand at the other side of the enclosure? And if the alligators start moving, they can shoot into the air and it’ll draw the alligators away.’

‘That could work.’

Seungcheol nodded and went back over to his other detectives. ‘Okay, I want the three of you to go around to the other side of the enclosure. I want you all with your guns out and ready to shoot into the air if the alligators start moving towards Jeonghan or me. Understand?’

‘Yes, captain.’

‘Also, Jisoo, radio the other officers and let them know that there will be gunshots but they should stay at their posts and look for Lee.’

‘Yes, sir.’

The other three moved around to the other side of the enclosure, then Seungcheol moved towards the chain link fence.

‘Jeonghan? We have a plan to get you out.’

‘What is it?’

‘I need to shoot the lock off the gate. Lee replaced it with a bike lock. But Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan are at the other side of the enclosure, and they’ll shoot if the alligators start moving, so don’t be alarmed okay? As soon as the lock is off, I’m going to come in and get you. Don’t move. I’ll walk slowly, remove your blindfold and untie your hands, then pick you up and carry you out. We’ll make less noise if only one of us walks. Does that sound okay?’

Jeonghan nodded. ‘Just please hurry up, Cheolie.’

Seungcheol readied his gun. Jeonghan was trying hard not to show it, but he could hear how scared he was. They had to be as quick as they could possibly before Jeonghan started to have a panic attack.

He stood back and shot the lock, and it sprung off right away, but the alligators all turned slowly to look at him. The one nearest to the gate raised a foot, but before it could even take a step, Jihoon shot his gun up into the air and the alligator but their foot back down.

Seungcheol put his gun away, then slowly opened the gate, which thankfully, didn’t creak.

The zookeeper closed it behind him, holding it there so none of the alligators could escape, and Seungcheol stepped into the enclosure.

It was a little muddy, and his shoes squelched as he walked towards the pond. He kept his eyes on Jeonghan, though, hoping that his detectives were watching the alligators.

When he was halfway to the pond, Seungcheol’s walkie-talkie crackled in his pocket. He stopped moving and shut his eyes. This wasn’t happening.

‘Captain Choi?’ murmured his pocket and Seungcheol took it out with a glare.

‘What?’

‘Lee’s escaped.’

‘Great. If you want to give me more bad news, contact Detective Boo.’ Then Seungcheol turned his walkie off and stuffed it back in his pocket.

‘Lee’s gone?’ Jeonghan asked, fidgeting slightly.

‘Apparently. We’ll worry about it later. We’re just focusing on you right now, okay?’

Jeonghan nodded and Seungcheol carried on, stepping slowly and quietly until both of his feet were in the pond. He carried on walking, his steps getting progressively louder as he waded through the water and he let out a quiet sigh of relief when he made it to Jeonghan. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and gave him a brief hug.

‘I’ve got you,’ the captain whispered and he felt Jeonghan’s tears hit his shoulder.

‘Thank you for coming for me.’

‘I would never leave you with Lee. _Never.’_ He placed a chaste kiss on Jeonghan’s lips, then he moved around him slowly until he was facing his boyfriend’s back. He untied the blindfold first, and it fell away easily, but as he started to untie the rope from around his wrists, he heard Jeonghan gasp.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘The alligators…’ Jeonghan whispered.

Seungcheol looked over his shoulder. They weren’t particularly near them, but it must have been a shock for Jeonghan to see what he’d been locked in here with. ‘It’s alright, angel. We’re leaving in a minute.’

The rope came undone, then Seungcheol picked Jeonghan up, but before they could move, there was a gunshot. They stayed still, cuddled together in the middle of the pond, but there was another shot.

Seungcheol risked another glance at the alligators. The one that had been the furthest away from the gate was now watching them with wide eyes, and it had moved towards them slightly.

‘Okay, Captain Choi,’ the zookeeper said, ‘that alligator has picked up on Sergeant Yoon’s scent and now that it can sense you’re taking him away, it’s getting angry and the gunshots are making it worse. I’m going to count down from three, and then you need to run back to the gate. Alligators can run up to thirty miles per hour, but only on riverbanks. They’re slow on land. You should be able to outrun it.’

Jeonghan clung tighter to Seungcheol then.

‘Okay,’ the captain said. ‘Just tell me when.’

‘3, 2, 1… now!’

Seungcheol sprinted across the pond, water splashing everywhere, and he headed straight for the gate. He didn’t take a moment to listen to try and work out if the alligator was following them, just kept going, and then he was on the ground, still holding Jeonghan, but on the other side of the gate, the alligator snapping at the fence.

‘Cheolie…’

Seungcheol looked up at his boyfriend who he was cradling to his chest and smiled. ‘Hey, Jeonghannie.’

Jeonghan let out a sob of relief and he began to cry and Seungcheol couldn’t help but join in. He rubbed his hands up and down Jeonghan’s back and held him tight to his body. He didn’t think he would get to do this again. He had hoped he would, but Seungcheol had presumed that Lee would have taken Jeonghan with him until they could negotiate or deal. But this was much better.

The beautiful sergeant sat up then and wiped away his tears. ‘We can do this later. We need to find Lee.’

Seungcheol shook his head. ‘We need to get you checked over first.’

‘He didn’t hurt me. I’m just cold and wet. We need to find Lee, though, or I’ll be going back in a safe house and I won’t be okay then. I know where he’s going. He told me.’

‘Alright.’ The two men got up off the ground just as Jisoo, Jihoon, and Seungkwan came around from the other side of the enclosure and enveloped their sergeant in a group hug.

‘We’re glad you’re okay, Hannie,’ Jisoo said, but Jeonghan just nodded.

‘No offence, but we can do this later. You and Jihoon need to radio Minghao and tell him to get some zookeepers down here to fix the gate. Seungkwan, you needed to come with us. And Seungcheol, I need your phone.’

‘What for?’ Seungcheol asked as he handed it over to his boyfriend.

‘I need to make a deal with the commissioner.’

…

Lee Seokmin stalked down the street, then up the steps to his house, just as three car doors slammed shut and torchlights were shone on him.

He put his hands in the air then slowly turned around. On the pavement stood Captain Choi, Sergeant Yoon, and Detective Boo, who he had once considered to be his best friend. If he truly were his friend, then he’d let him see his wife and daughter before Christmas.

‘What do you want?’

‘To make a deal,’ Jeonghan said as he stepped forwards.

Seokmin snarled. ‘Yeah. Course you are.’

‘I’ve spoken to the commissioner and he’s approved it. I’ve asked for you to be put in a minimum-security prison, one where prisoners will be let out at certain times of the day as long as you return for a set curfew. That way you can see your wife and daughter every day, instead of just during visiting hours.’

Lee took one step towards them. ‘What’s the catch? What do you want in return?’

‘We want you to help us catch drug dealers,’ Seungcheol said. ‘We got everyone in your gang, but we didn’t get all of your contacts. There are still a lot of dangerous people in Seoul, and in South Korea, that can do a lot of harm. We’ll give your family protection, and if you work for the police department, you’ll have a small wage to support them, too. We know that taking Jeonghan and Lila wasn’t about getting your men back. It was so you could see your family again.’

Seokmin shifted from one foot to the other. It was a good deal. And he hated seeing his beautiful wife and lovely daughter having to come into the seedy maximum-security prison to visit him. But there was the question of his relationships. He’d built up his contacts on a basis of trust and loyalty. If he did this, there would be no way back to being in charge of Seoul’s underworld. But maybe that was for the best.

‘Seokmin,’ Seungkwan said, his voice pleading. ‘You know this is a good deal. You love your family more than anything. And this way, you’ll be able to meet your wife for lunch and pick your daughter up from school and actually take her to the zoo. And at the precinct, I’ll be your liaison. The commissioner already confirmed it. And if you agree, maybe we can go to karaoke again?’

Seokmin looked at the front door of his house. He was literally a metre away from going inside to see his family, but then he would be back off to the maximum-security prison. This deal was the best he was going to get. He turned back to the three officers. ‘Okay. You have a deal.’

…

Seungcheol practically collapsed into the bed after his shower. God, he was so tired. But it had been worth it. He had rescued Lila and her unborn baby, as well as Jeonghan. The other man was currently in the shower, washing off the gunk from the alligator pond. They usually would have showered together, but Jeonghan had asked to do it separately for once, just so he had some time to calm down. Seungcheol had agreed: he’d practically do anything for Jeonghan if he asked, but when he got out of the shower, they needed to have a serious talk about why Jeonghan had never told him that he wasn’t over the trauma of being separated from Seungcheol for a year.

The captain stood up, despite his aching bones, and threw his towel to one side as he went over to the chest of drawers. He opened the first drawer and pulled out a pair of his boxers, but as he did, his fingers brushed against the velvet of the box that held Jeonghan’s engagement ring. Should he propose tonight? Seungcheol wanted to: the thought of never seeing Jeonghan again had overwhelmed him so much in the past couple of hours that it made him want to propose as soon as they had rescued him. But maybe it would overwhelm the younger man too much, considering everything that had happened today.

Seungcheol hummed and put the box under his pillow, that way he could easily reach for it if he decided Jeonghan would be able to handle even more emotions today. He then picked up his towel from the floor and placed it in the laundry basket.

Jeonghan came in then, a towel wrapped around his own waist, and he smiled timidly at Seungcheol. ‘Hi.’

‘Hey, baby. Come here.’

At his command, Jeonghan immediately snuggled himself into Seungcheol’s chest and under his chin, and the captain wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

‘How are you feeling after your shower?’

‘Better,’ Jeonghan murmured. ‘I never thought I’d see you again after Lee took me.’

‘Oh, angel… Let’s get you dressed, then I want to talk.’

Jeonghan nodded: he knew this was coming. He sat down on the bed and watched as Seungcheol grabbed a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt, then dressed him, just like he had done the other night.

Once he was dressed, Seungcheol sat down beside his angel, then lifted him to sit on his lap. ‘Baby, why didn’t you tell me that you had been so traumatised about being separated from me?’

Jeonghan started to cry then and Seungcheol cradled him against his chest until his tears had subsided enough for him to talk. ‘Because you fell in love with a different me. The Jeonghan who’s cheeky and teases everyone. Not one who’s clingy and upset about something so…’ Jeonghan sobbed and Seungcheol held him against his chest again.

‘Baby, baby… I’ve been in love with you since the moment we first met when we were four. You’ve changed so much since then, but I’ve never once stopped loving you. Because at the end of the day, you’re the only one who truly knows me, and I’m the only one who truly knows you. I don’t care if you’re cheeky or clingy or a mixture of both, as long as you tell me when something’s wrong.’

Jeonghan lifted his head out of Seungcheol’s chest, his gorgeous brown eyes glassy. ‘So… you won’t leave me? I was so scared to tell you in case you wanted to leave me.’

Seungcheol could feel his heart breaking from the look of despair on Jeonghan’s face. ‘I would never leave you, angel. You could probably try to kill me and I would still be in love with you. I love you so much, you have no idea. Actually…’ He lifted Jeonghan off his lap and set him down on the bed, then stood up. ‘Stay here and close your eyes.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Just do it,’ Seungcheol said with a grin, then placed a kiss on the tip of Jeonghan’s nose when he did as he was told.

The captain went around to his side of the bed and grabbed the ring box from under his pillow. He had to do propose now. The situation wasn’t ideal, but he had to show Jeonghan just how much he meant to him.

With shaking hands, he opened the box and got down on one knee in front of Jeonghan. This was really happening, wasn’t it? Had Hansol felt this nervous when he had proposed to Lila? Probably more actually: that boy could be incredibly shy.

‘Can I open my eyes?’

‘Yeah.’

Jeonghan did and he gasped, tears immediately filling his eyes. ‘Cheolie? You…’

‘I’ve had the ring for a while now. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to ask you. Please don’t think I’m doing this out of pity because of what happened today. I’m doing it because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Yoon Jeonghan, will you marry me?’

All Jeonghan could do was nod, and then Seungcheol was slipping the ring onto his finger before the now-engaged couple were hugging.

‘I love you, Seungcheol,’ Jeonghan managed to whisper in between breaths and Seungcheol just smiled as he rocked his fiancé back and forth.

‘I love you, too, baby. Everything will be just fine. I won’t let you out of my sight ever again.’

There was a quiet meowing at the door and both men looked over to see Holly staring up at them, her wide green eyes alert, probably due to all of the sobbing noises she kept hearing.

‘It’s okay, Holly,’ Jeonghan said with a sniff and she meowed again before jumping up onto the bed and nuzzling against Jeonghan’s hip. ‘Can she sleep in here with us tonight?’

‘You don’t even need to ask, angel.’

Jeonghan smiled and Seungcheol picked his fiancé up and carried him to the top of the bed. He placed Jeonghan under the covers before he got in beside him, and Holly curled up at the foot of the bed.

‘Do you want to cuddle?’ Seungcheol asked.

‘I always want to cuddle.’

Seungcheol chuckled and held Jeonghan tight against his chest. Ever since Hansol and Lila’s wedding reception, Seungcheol had felt permanently stressed. But now it was all over, and it had ended with Lee Seokmin being on their side, he could finally relax. But then Seungcheol sighed as a sudden realisation came to him.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jeonghan asked.

‘I thought all of the stress was over, but I’ve just realised that we have to plan a wedding.’

Jeonghan giggled. ‘It’s okay. I can do most of it, and Lila can help me.’ He bit his lip. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Sure.’

‘I went with Lila to help her pick her wedding dress and I… tried a few on whilst we were at the shop. Can I wear a wedding dress?’

Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile: he knew Jeonghan would want to wear one. ‘As long as I can fuck you in it after.’

Jeonghan smiled and pressed a tiny kiss to Seungcheol’s throat. ‘Deal. Let’s start planning tomorrow. Good night, Cheolie.’

‘Night, angel.’

The younger man snuggled against him with a tiny sigh and Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile. Everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> So, I researched Seoul Grand Park, but for the life of me I could not work out what was going on, so the zoo is actually based on Chester Zoo in England :D
> 
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> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


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